Well Standard
}} The Well or Well Standard (ウエルスタンダード) is a Japanese camera taking ten 4×5cm pictures on 127 film. It was made by Nippon Kōki between 1939 and 1942 and distributed by Misuzu Shōkai. The attribution to Nippon Kōki is confirmed in the , item 155. The Well Super is an evolution in 4.5×6cm format, described in a separate page. Description The Well Standard is trying to imitate the luxury 35mm rangefinder it is not. The lens and shutter are mounted on a telescopic tube. The direct vision finder and a brilliant finder are positioned on each side of the top housing, thus showing two windows like a rangefinder camera. There is an accessory shoe between the two finders, and the name Well Standard is engraved above the eye-level finder, together with the model number and the initials N.K.K. Two knobs are visible on either end of the top plate. That on the photographer's right is real, and is used to advance the film. That on the left is a fake, imitating the rewind knob of contemporary 35mm cameras. Traditional advance control by red windows was not possible, because the paper backing of 127 film is not marked for the unusual 4×5cm format. To overcome this, almost all other Japanese cameras of the time taking 4×4cm and 4×5cm exposures were equipped with an automatic stop advance device, but the Well Standard has a manual counter, merely consisting of numbers engraved on a disc turning together with the advance knob. To advance one exposure, you have to manually stop turning when the correct number is facing an index engraved on the top plate. This approach is less than ideal, and irregular spacing is probably frequent. The counter is shaped as the automatic exposure counter of the contemporary Leica. It is reset manually to "1" after the film is loaded and the first exposure is positioned. To load the film, the back is removed together with the bottom plate and is locked by a key placed under the camera, in the middle. It contains a single red window at the left end, to set the position of the first exposure. The tripod thread is offset to the right, as seen by the photographer. Two shutter types exist. The NKK shutter has a black front plate, inscribed NKK at the bottom, and T, B, 150, 100, 50, 25 speeds engraved in that order. The Well-Rapid shutter (T, B, 1–500) has a silver front plate and the name WELL–RAPID inscribed at the bottom of the rim. All the models have a front-cell focusing Well Anastigmat lens of 65mm focal length. The f/4.5 lenses have a black bezel and the f/3.5 lenses have a silver bezel. A metal-finished dedicated lens hood was available, engraved Well. Evolution The camera was first advertised in August 1939, and was featured in the new products column of in September 1939. , p.334. It was simply called "Well" (ウエル) in advertising until about 1941, , p.334. but it seems that all the examples of the camera have Well Standard markings. In the April 1940 advertisement in , placed by Misuzu Shōkai, the camera is offered for with a Well Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and a shutter providing T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 speeds. Advertisement reproduced in , p.60. An undated leaflet by Kankyū Hyakkaten lists three versions: Leaflet by Kankyū Hyakkaten reproduced in this page. * Model I: f/3.5 lens, Well-Rapid shutter (T, B, 1–500, self-timer), ¥110; * Model II: f/4.5 lens, T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 speeds, ¥60; * Model III: f/3.5 lens, T, B, 25, 50, 100, 150 speeds, ¥80. The Well-Rapid shutter was made by Nippon Kōki itself and the three-element Well Anastigmat 65mm f/3.5 lens was made by Suzuki (the f/4.5 lens was certainly made by Suzuki too but this is unconfirmed). , shutter item 18-R-7 and lens item K8. The camera pictured in the leaflet has a Well-Rapid and lens no.1004; the lens number sequence presumably started at 1001 and this is probably one of the earliest made. The official price list compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941 mentions the "Well Standard I" (¥125), "Well Standard II" (¥60) and "Well Standard III" (¥92), probably corresponding to the above versions. , type 1, section 10 and type 2, sections 5B and 7. At least the Well Standard II and III appear again in a similar price list dated November 1941. , type 2, sections 5B and 7. The March 1942 advertisement in Hōdō Shashin, again by Misuzu Shōkai, offers the same three versions, respectively at , and . Advertisement reproduced in , p.60. The Well Standard is still mentioned in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production, in a single version with f/3.5 lens and Well-Rapid shutter. , item 155. The model numbering observed on the surviving examples is quite inconsistent. Either the company changed its mind about the model numbers at some time, or it simply used whatever top housing was available regardless of the information given in the advertisements. The observed combinations are summarized in this table (no MODEL III has been observed so far): Notes Bibliography Original documents * Type 2, sections 5B and 7. * Kankyū Hyakkaten. Leaflet for the New Midget II, Romax, Semi Leotax and Well Standard. Date not indicated. Document reproduced in this Flickr album by Rebollo_fr. * Item 155. * Type 1, section 10; type 2, sections 5B and 7. Recent sources * Items 25–6. * P.721. * Items 3059–61. Links In English: * Well Standard Model I at Tomei Collection In Japanese * Well Standard among A-Z 127 film cameras at Asacame * Well in a page of wanted cameras at je2luz * Advertisement for the Well Super, also mentioning the Well Standard, published in an unidentified Japanese magazine in 1942, reproduced in Nostalgic Camera, a page of old Japanese advertisements by Toshio Inamura. Category: Japanese 4x5 viewfinder Category: W Category: 1939